EN: Biorite
by Bel'sCorpse
Summary: She had no idea who she was. He had no idea who she was. The only thing clear for both of them was that Sakura's past was the key to her future. A dark secret rested in her mind, and the secret had to die, and she had to die with it. Syaoran put a price on his head from the moment he decided to help her. Things couldn't get worse, right? (Translation) (SxS)
1. Shot 1

Hi there!

So... It's been a while since I came up with the idea of translating my lastest project from spanish to english. After months of work I finally came up with this. I must warn you, I have no clue if i'm doing it right or if I actually suck. Please, let me know what you think. Thank you very much for your time.

Bel's.

* * *

The original characters and story line belong to CLAMP

* * *

**BIORITE**

**By:**

_Bel'sCorpse_

**-1 -**

_"Are you on call tonight? Kenji wants to go to the movies, but** s**ays you have to come with us."_

He let out a heavy sigh while he removed his wire-rimmed glasses. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to hold off a stinging headache.

"I don't know, they haven't posted anything on the board yet" he said wearily. It was only five in the afternoon and he was about to pass out from exhaustion. "Most likely, yes, with the highway accident the emergency room is full; I even had to transfer patients to other hospitals.

_"That's what I suspected. It's okay; I'll bring you something to eat, because I'm sure you haven't eaten breakfast yet. See you later, Xiao-Lang"_

He said goodbye and hung up also. For three long days he was forced to stay in the hospital controlling the flow of patients who had crowded the emergency room. Three nights ago there was a crash involving sixty cars on the freeway. A trailer had overturned on a stretch of unlit road and the cars crashed against it. From the hundred and twenty wounded, less than half were in intensive care, a bunch of others had not left the operating room and the rest had been relocated to small clinics throughout the city. And he, as head of emergencies, was personally responsible for the welfare of all those people.

He stroked the bridge of his nose again and a painful pang pierced his skull when someone knocked on his door.

"The schedule is up" said the newcomer. "We are on call again."

Syaoran nodded vaguely and closed his eyes.

"Kenji wants to go to the movies. Meiling called me" he added "I haven't seen my son in over a week"

Eriol gave his friend a pitiful look and sat opposite him. He had several folders in his arms, mostly medical records of their patients. He left them on the desk and picked out a blue one.

"We have a problem" Eriol said all of a sudden. Syaoran had straightened up in his chair and looked at him with tired eyes. "We have a Jane Doe in the ICU and the police needs us to identify her."

"Did you try dental records, lab tests, blood tests?"

Eriol nodded.

"I've found nothing. Is like she doesn't exists at all"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, or so I confirmed the nurses, but what surprises me is that, although they found her on the site of the accident, her body presents other injuries: bruises, cuts, and even a gunshot wound. She has several bruises on her face and a broken nose, but that was already fixed with a minor surgery."

Syaoran growled.

"How much time do we have to find her identity?"

"A couple of weeks, but the police can't get near her as long as she is hospitalized."

Syaoran was silent for a minute, his mind in several places at once. Finally he stood up and took the folder from Eriol.

"Let's go see her."

The hospital hallways were swarming with people. Doctors, nurses, relatives went from side to side. Some doctors would stop to greet Syaoran and a few others to report the progress of their patients. He answered them without slowing down at all, wanting only to settle the issue of the unknown girl and lock himself in his office to get some sleep. Eriol took him through several corridors to the ICU, where a somewhat disconcerting silence reigned. They stopped at the last door of the hall and entered a small room with white walls. The windows had the curtains drawn and at the table next to the computers controlling the vital signs of the girl rested a vase with flowers.

"Hikaru brought them; he said that it seemed like the right thing to do." Eriol said, shrugging. "You know how sentimental he is."

"Help me with the review."

The face of the woman on the bed was purple from the blows she had received, but still you could see her delicate features under all the swelling. She had long hair, a light brown rather faded, and an Egyptian eye tattooed on her left wrist. Undeterred, the chestnut lifted the sheets revealing a curvaceous body, riddled with wounds. After a quick glance he located the bullet wound in her upper thigh and a stab in the lower stomach.

"Does she have any internal wounds?" Syaoran asked, sitting beside her on the bed as he pressed gently in the torso area.

"Two broken ribs, dislocated right shoulder, the hand bones fractured and splintered femur. She was inhumanly beaten, but she defended herself pretty well. She hurt her shoulder by firing a high caliber weapon."

"How do you know that?"

"The exact same thing happened to me in my first shooting practice, but I also found gunpowder residue on her skin and clothes."

"Ok."

Syaoran spent almost an hour thoroughly checking every inch of the girl's limp body. And a terrible helplessly indignation seized him. He couldn't stand abuse of any kind, much less to a woman. But at the same time it made him angry, it also filled him with curiosity. For what reason she had been shot and what had led her to shoot back? Why despite looking so delicate she offered the appearance of someone who trained constantly? And the most important question of all: Who was that woman?

"It seems that the ribs are starting to heal, but just in case I want x-rays of the chest, hands and femur, depending on their state I will order a second operation. I also want a complete blood count and a drug test. Oh, and an EEG as well." He covered her again with the blankets and then regulated the serum drip. "Assign Hikaru any of my patients; I'll take care of our Jane Doe."

"I'll have the results as soon as possible." Eriol already had one foot out of the room. "Need anything else?"

"That's all for now."

Eriol nodded and left.

Syaoran stood there for a few minutes, staring at the girl with curiosity and almost dies of a heart attack when she sat bolt upright. She opened her eyes a moment, but he knew she could not see him, and then she fell back on the pillow as if nothing had happened. The chestnut got out of there quickly with the intention of taking her to the scanner immediately. Something was wrong in the mind of that woman.

* * *

"Daddy!"

A five year old boy ran as waterspout at the reception, with a red cape billowing behind him. Syaoran caught him in mid-career and lifted him to plant a kiss on his cheek. Moments later they were joined by a woman with long black hair and suggestive figure. Meiling smiled fondly at his cousin and gave him a brief hug.

"I got you a burger" she showed him a paper bag. "No time to cook"

"It's okay, thanks" He put Kenji on his shoulders "Walk me to make the rounds, doc? " He asked his son in that sweet tone of voice he reserved only for him. "Chiharu wants to see you," he added, addressing his cousin. "She's waiting for you in the nurse's station on the second floor".

"I'll go as long as she is telling me that Terada finally proposed, if not I won't even bother" She handed Syaoran the bag. "Don't take too long, tomorrow Kenji has a trip to the aquarium and I have to take him to school earlier."

"Give me an hour."

And with the child on his shoulders he walked back to his office for a few folders and his stethoscope. Kenji took it off as soon as he had the opportunity and began to hear the beating of his own heart.

"Have you had a good time at Meiling's house?" Syaoran asked, walking the halls again.

"Lots and she always buys me candy" he said softly. His father had told him he could not yell at the hospital. "And she takes me to school and to the park and buys me ice cream."

Syaoran smiled.

"That's because she loves you."

"When are you coming home, daddy?"

"Soon, doc, I promise."

They had reached one of the rooms that Syaoran was visiting. He left Kenji on the floor, straightened his cape for him and went inside the room. Several of Syaoran's patients were familiar with Kenji and always appreciated his visit. While Syaoran did his check, he distracted them telling them what he had done that day or telling them his last dream, which almost always had something to do with superheroes.

In half an hour Syaoran had visited almost all his patients, having only one room left in the ICU. He was considering whether to take his son to see the unknown girl, but he really had no time to decide, because they had already arrived there and Kenji had already opened the door. He hesitated in the hall for a second and then went inside and what a genuine surprise was to find her awake with a sketchbook and pencil in hand. Kenji was sitting next to her, not at all affected by her appearance, asking her about the drawings.

"Sorry, my son is very curious" he said, suddenly nervous. The girl had the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. "My name is Syaoran Li, I'm your doctor. How do you feel?"

"Like crap." she said huskily. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days." he also sat on the bed. "We found you in the middle of a traffic accident. Do you remember how you got there?"

The girl's eyes went unfocused for a moment and then, after a second of silence, she shook her head slightly.

"I don't know. I know nothing."

Syaoran held his breath for a moment. Amnesia was one of the most unpredictable branches of medicine. It could last for days, years and sometimes a lifetime.

"Can I see that?" he asked more to fill the silence than out of genuine interest. She handed him the sketchbook. In the middle of the page, drawn with impressive fidelity, was the Empire State. "You're very good."

"Thank you. For how long will I stay here?"

"Until you recover completely, they hurt you a lot."

The girl was about to answer, but someone beat her knocking on the door. Meiling's head peered through the crack.

"Sorry to interrupt, Syaoran, I have to take him, it's late."

The aforementioned nodded and stood up.

"Kenji, you heard your aunt, it's time to go."

The boy nodded, but did not move. His eyes were glued to the sketchbook and a concentration aura seemed to emanate from him. Then he blinked several times in a row and woke up from his trance. He smiled at the girl and hugged her unannounced. She remained static for a moment before returning the gesture.

"Don't be scared, onee-chan, that place is far away from here" he hugged her a little tighter. "My daddy is going to take care of you like he takes care of me."

He planted a kiss on her cheek, jumped out of bed, said goodbye to his father and slipped out of the room. Meiling, not knowing what to say, said goodbye too. Once they were alone, Syaoran crossed his arms, unable to understand what had just happened. Kenji was a friendly kid but never approached strangers that way.

"Is it true? What your son said?" asked the girl. "Are you going to take care of me?"

The question surprised him.

"Of course, it's my job." He said, finally.

The girl smiled and moved on to an empty page on her sketchbook.

"My name is Sakura."

"How do you know?"

"That's all I remember."

* * *

_BIOCORP, NEW YORK._ _USA._

_EIGHT MONTHS AGO_

_[21:00 HRS, CONFERENCE ROOM]_

"_We have discussed several times the performance of this project._ _None of the subjects can resist the drug, much less the training." the woman ran a hand through her blond hair and sighed._ _Her name was Irina Black and she was the head of Homeland Security._ "_We have spent millions of dollars on this and many lives have been sacrificed._ _How much longer will it take to get results?"_

_Jonathan Seagal, Biocorp director, let out a heavy sigh._ _For over a year Irina and the president of the United States had breathed on his neck demanding answers._ _His latest project had attracted the attention of several organizations and countries and to avoid an unnecessary war, Irina had purchased the rights of ownership of the project._ _As she said, a considerable amount of money had been spent and a lot of lives were sacrificed, all in the name of science._ _But his project, which worked wonderfully in prototype, was useless when taken to real scale._ _Only in the last twelve hours six subjects had died, unable to bear the preparation phase._

"As _I have already explained, Irina, I need soldiers, sailors, men and women with great physical ability._ _I've got only convicts, drug addicts and desperate housewives._ _Their bodies are too weak to resist a chemical so strong._ _If you want results, give me some good tools._ _If we continue like this we will get anywhere."_

_Irina frowned._ _Jonathan had pestered her with this issue for over a year, but she couldn't give him what he wanted. The Guinea pigs he was asking for were the elite of the country; one of its most important pillars and to give them away just like that to a scientist with a god complex was the last thing she wanted._ _But she also had to admit that the project needed to work, many things depended on that._

"_And you already know the answer, Jonathan; I can't give you what you ask."_

"_Then I'll cancel the project." _

_A third person was watching the scene in bored silence._ _His name was Kishimoto Akio, a Japanese-American with black hair and blue eyes. He had in his hands the report that Jonathan had prepared for the meeting._ _He__ read it four times and had to admit he was impressed._ _Jonathan__ had good ideals and the way he conducted his experiments was impeccable and shared with him the need for stronger guinea pigs._ _With a group of weaklings he would not get very far._

"_If I may…" he straightened in his chair._ _Irina and Jonathan immediately fell silent, "Here our fellow scientist is right, dear, he definitely needs stronger soldiers._ _And before you start with the same story, I have the solution that will please both of you._ _How many of our lab technicians are preparing for the examination of the CIA and the FBI?_ _They meet the requirements you impose, Jonathan._ _._ _If the goal is to create perfect soldiers, who better than them?" He closed the folder and stood up._ "_The matrix of your lab is full of those white rats, offer them the opportunity to have an advantage in the exam and they will take the test voluntarily and everything else you want to do to them._ _But Jonathan, don't get your hopes up, you of all people know that only one of them will survive."_

_He_ _bid both of them farewell and left the room._ _Irina also packed up, ready to go._

"_Send me a list with the names of your candidates._ _I'll see that the president approves it."_

_And without another word, she quickly walked away._

* * *

The alarm woke him at three o'clock, just in time for his next round. He stretched in his chair and stood up slowly. He felt much better than before and he had only slept an hour or so. He put on his coat and left the room quietly as not to wake Eriol. The hospital corridors were deserted at that hour, except for the occasional figure of a nurse in the distance. Suppressing a yawn he began his tour routine. He revised monitors, equipment, injuries, and regulated serums, all that with sleep closing his eyes. But as it was happening twice in the day, when he reach the ICU all his senses were put on alert. In all the years he had worked in the hospital dealing with things able to break the most brave of doctors, he had never felt such anxiety when faced with a patient. He had no idea why that woman had disturbed him so much. Perhaps was her resignation to accept that she had lost her memory, because he was used to calm hysterical patients. Everything about her, from her appearance to her behavior was strange. He hesitated outside the door of her room, but finally made up his mind and walked in.

It was the second time he found her awake with a sketchbook in hand. Her face was contorted in a grimace of concentration and the bruises had almost disappeared. That left him a little unsettled. He stared at her for a moment. That was impossible. Just hours ago her face was still swollen and purple. Such a fast recovery was impossible.

"Sakura?" The aforementioned stopped drawing and looked at him. Her green eyes were clouded with fatigue. "It's almost four o'clock. What are you doing up?" That was a really stupid question, he thought.

"Drawing." She turned the book to show him the outline of a huge city covered by rain. It took him a moment to realize he was seeing a picture of Tokyo. "Sometimes I remember things and I draw them, but I have no idea what they mean."

"Have you ever been to Tokyo?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm Japanese?"

Syaoran looked at her closely.

"You have certain traits, but there is some American in you. Your hair color, your eyes, even your height. You're taller than an average Japanese woman."

"What color are my eyes?"

"Don't you know how you look?"

"No."

Syaoran fell silent. Sakura's amnesia was so severe that she had even forgotten her appearance. He sighed. At some point in that conversation he decided to do to the utmost to help her and it was about time he began. He took the sketchbook from her and placed it on the table, then pulled the sheets and had to restrain himself from screaming. The stab was just a scar and the bullet wound was on the same path. He even dared to believe that her bones were perfectly healthy.

"Come to the bathroom." He said shakily.

He helped her get there and covered her eyes with his had so she couldn't see herself in the mirror.

"Take it easy and don't be scared" the girl nodded firmly. "Well, this is you, Sakura."

He removed his hand from her face and took a few steps back. Sakura stared at the full length mirror, from her long brown hair to her feet. Several minutes passed while Sakura stared at her reflection. Apparently she didn't recognized herself. It was going to be very difficult to help.

"I have a tattoo?" She asked, pointing to her left wrist. "What does it mean?"

"It's the all-seeing eye, an ancient Egyptian symbol that protects its bearer from bad energies."

Sakura nodded, but said nothing. She gave herself one last look and left the bathroom. Syaoran immediately followed her.

"How I lost my memory?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out; there are many strange things around you." He sat on a chair as she sprawled on the bed. "Tell me what you remember."

"Places, mostly." She said immediately. "But they are different cities. Sometimes I can recognize the street and what city it belongs to, but most of the time I have no idea where they are."

"Do you remember what were you doing in those places?"

Sakura shook her head.

"I can only see an image, like a photograph."

"Anything else?"

"Voices, lots of voices. Someone screaming my name, someone else gives instructions, and something about a drug dose."

They fell silent. Sakura got off the bed and walked over to the table to take the sketchbook.

"I made something for you." She gave him one of the pages, neatly folded.

Shaoran received the page a little puzzled and opened it. It was a portrait of her, drawing, with Kenji to her left and him to her right, as it had been that afternoon. The detail of faces, clothes, even the shadows was exquisite, and whilst Sakura's face was blank; she managed to draw herself with amazing precision. The expression of his son was of pure rapture, while his showed anxiety and confusion. How Sakura had managed to notice that much was something that eluded him.

"Thank you, Sakura." He slipped the piece of paper in the inside pocket of his robe.

He stood up and walked to the door. He had been there longer than he should have.

"Well, I have to go. If you need anything you can call a nurse."

"All right, Syaoran. See you tomorrow."

"Sure."

When he opened the door of his apartment he expected to be greeted by the radiant smile of his son, but then he remembered that he was with Meiling and that he would have to wait until evening to see him. Well, he was going to take advantage of his temporary loneliness to sleep. He dropped his things on the couch in the living room and went into the kitchen for a beer. He drank half the bottle in one gulp, while trying to order his thoughts, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Sakura or that drawing off his mind. After leaving Sakura's room he wandered the halls of the hospital with his brain in shut-down mode. So he was surprised to realize that he had returned to his office and that Eriol seemed to have a good time trying to catch his attention. From that point on everything got blurry until that morning, when he was released from his duties. And that was something to celebrate, because it was the first time in two months that he got the day off.

He finished his beer and snatched another one from the fridge before going to his room. The bed and the rest of the furniture looked abandoned. Only his son's room and the guest room, where Meiling used to crash late at night, looked inhabited. Not caring much about the slight layer of dust he jumped in his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was falling asleep when his phone started bawling. He picked up and took the device to his ear.

_"Are you home? I hope so. I have to attend a design meeting at twelve and Kenji's nanny won't come today. I thought about dropping him off with your mother, but I don't have time to go to the mansion and back." _

"I'm home, bring him here." He said, his voice overflowing with exhaustion. Maybe he could get Kenji to sleep for a while. "How was the school trip?"

_"Pretty good, the staff gave him a turtle and he takes it with him everywhere. I took the liberty to buy a little cage and stuff. I know that you hate animals, but you'll have to suck it up. See you in a while"_

The line went dead.

He left his cell phone and beer aside and sat with difficulty. He was about to faint and with Kenji in the house anything could go wrong. It was at times like that when he considered getting an indoor nanny or in the worst and most unlikely of cases, a wife. Being a single parent was disgusting. And although five years have passed since his fiancée left him, he still had a hard time accepting the truth. A year after that she came back with a baby in her arms. There was no doubt it was his son and to remind him of that, she left the baby in the living room and left before he noticed. And God, it had been difficult. Dividing between the hospital and a newborn tested his patience and mental strength. He taught himself to care for another human being and learned to control the panic that gripped him when his son was in danger. And he also learned what it was to live for somebody else.

He ran a hand over his face and went into the bathroom. He stayed in there for ten minutes and was finishing getting dressed when he heard the front door open and the familiar laughter of his son.

"Syaoran." That was Meiling, who sounded somewhat agitated. "There you are," she entered the room and took a quick look. "Tomorrow I can't stay with Kenji, we have problems in the office and the boss needs all of us there."

"And what about Karin? Can't she help me?"

"She has a very important test coming up; she hasn't left her house for two weeks now."

"I'll call my sisters to see if they can help me, if not I'll have to bring him to the hospital with me."

Meiling nodded.

"I'm late." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "If I leave early I'll pick up the little monster and watch over him until you're free. I love you."

Meiling was gone by the time he got to the living room. He sat next to Kenji, who was playing with his turtle. Shaoran kissed him in the head.

"What are we doing today?" Syaoran asked, stifling a yawn.

"Movies?"

"Okay. And what do you want to eat?"

"Pizza!" Kenji screamed.

Syaoran chuckled and while he ordered the pizza he went to the kitchen to get a soda for Kenji.

"That's it; your pizza will be here in half an hour. Want anything else, doc?"

"No, Daddy" he was playing with the little turtle. The animal went from side to side in his little cage, putting his head in the water and then hiding it inside the shell. "You have to go to the hospital tomorrow?"

Syaoran sighed. He needed a nanny urgently.

"Yes, but guess what."

"What?"

"You're coming with me."

"Yay!"

Kenji left the turtle and started jumping around the room. Syaoran's phone suddenly started to ring. After forcing Kenji to sit down, he picked up.

_"Good afternoon, Li-san. Sorry to bother you on your day off, but something happened with one of your patients and I thought you should know." _

"What's up, Chiharu?

_"I was given the results of the tests you ordered on your Jane Doe, but something is wrong. The fractures are gone; there is not the slightest damage to her bone structure. Even her blood is clean from toxics."_

"Are you sure those tests are right?"

_"Yes, I even went to do a review in person. Li-san, Sakura-san looks perfect. She has no bruises, no scars, nothing. Even the nose job she got is altered."_

Syaoran was silent for a minute. What the hell was going on? It was impossible to recover that fast from that kind of injuries.

"Burn the file and attend Sakura personally, I don't want anyone else to see her until I do."

_"Do you want a copy of the file?"_

"Yes, keep it in the safe in my office."

_"Understood, Li-san."_

Syaoran left the phone on the coffee table and buried his face in his hands. What the fuck was going on? How could a rib fracture or a gunshot heal in less than five days? That kind of physical regeneration did not exist and went against every natural law. How?

"Daddy, the bell."

Kenji's voice broke into his thoughts. He sighed. He would have to wait until tomorrow to find out exactly who was Sakura.

* * *

I hope you liked it. Please review! Thank you!

See you later!


	2. Shot 2

**Hello! Thank you very much for your support. I'm trying to improve, so if you notice anything wrong, please tell me so I can correct it. Here is the second chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you again for reading and leaving a review! **

**Bel's. **

* * *

**The original characters and story line belongs to CLAMP**

* * *

**BIORITE **

**-2 -**

A black motorcycle was parked a block away from the hospital. Its occupant stared at black sports car that passed her by. A few moments later the car disappeared into the hospital's private parking. The driver waited ten minutes before getting off the bike and to retrieve something out of the compartment under the seat. She removed her helmet revealing the handsome face of a woman with dark eyes and short black hair. She left the helmet hanging from the handlebar and quickly surveyed the street until she located a white van parked in the opposite sidewalk. She quickly crossed the street and knocked on the sliding door. A moment later the door opened and a guy wearing a black mask gave her a seemingly harmless bag.

"You know what you have to do" he said in Japanese. "We will control the cameras from here. Good Luck."

"Thanks, but I don't need it."

She slung the bag over her shoulder, put on a pair of aviator glasses that covered half her face and walked with resolute step towards the hospital's entrance. Just a few steps away she pulled a folding cane from her jacket pocket. She adjusted her glasses and walked on. As soon as she stepped inside the reception a guy that looked more like a model than a nurse gently reminded her that it was forbidden to wear glasses inside the hospital. She replied with the same kindness that she was blind and that under any circumstances had she tried to break the rules. The man quickly apologized and asked if she needed anything.

"I've come to visit a friend." She said with feigned innocence. "She's in intensive care."

"What's her name?"

"Kinomoto Sakura."

* * *

_Jonathan let out a tired sigh while his lips formed an enthusiastic smile._ _It had been a month since his meeting with Irina and he had finally received the list reviewed and approved by the president._ _He had already sent the respective email invitations to his top ten guinea pigs. All of them had responded enthusiastically._ They e_ven had agreed to share the glory and advantage with other nine elected._ And still they had no idea_ that a hundred items were selected and probably only one of them was going to survive._ _When the project started officially, three years ago, he had felt the sting of guilt to experiment with human lives, but he had convinced himself that the only way to prove that his theory about perfect soldiers worked was testing it in such soldiers._ _He had written a detailed report that he personally delivered to the National Security Office, where he first met Irina Black, an attractive woman who looked younger than she was._ _She received him in his office, listened carefully to his proposal and before he knew exactly what was going on, he was sitting in an official car towards the White House._

_"Get ready; doctor Seagal, because you have to sell this idea to the President."_

_And he had succeeded, he had obtained financial support from the state, but since then it had been a total failure, and he sincerely hoped that this time things were different._

"_Jonathan, your guests have arrived."_

"_Thanks, Jack, take them to the testing room and prepare them._ _I'll be right there."_

_Ten minutes later he entered a large room with beds on both sides and electronic equipment on the walls. An antiseptic smell hung in the air. His ten guinea pigs were waiting already dressed in tight white shorts and tops of the same color._ _Although the overall group looked scared, he also could feel their excitement._ _He smiled gently to reassure them and immediately jumped to explain what they would do._

"_I warn you that there is a high level of risk and it may not work._ _Are you sure you want to continue?"_

_The group nodded._

"_All right, lie on the beds, please."_

_A few nurses came out of nowhere and one by one started to connect the patients to an IV bag filled with a black liquid._ _When the last nurse nodded, indicating that all was ready, Jonathan gave the green light to continue._ _The serum quickly entered the bloodstream of his guinea pigs and immediately the familiar chorus of gasps filled the room._ The mutter s_lowly faded._ _The subjects seemed to tolerate the drug. After a few minutes the nurses ordered to stop the flow._

"_We'll change the serum, please don't move."_

_It was at this stage in which it was decided if one of them was the survivor he needed. From the genetics of his champion, he would modify the serum and before injecting others he would do a few compatibility tests. _

_The bags contained now a phosphorescent green liquid. At his signal, the nurses opened the droppers. The result was immediate. One after another, the subjects began to squirm in their beds. Their veins were visible under their skin, glittering in the same tone as the chemical. Jonathan held his breath. They only had to endure a few more minutes. The counter on the wall showed the remaining time and just when he thought he had succeeded, the room fell silent. He had ten dead bodies on the beds. _

"_You know what to do." he said bitterly._

_He left the testing room and returned to his office. There were still over ninety and one of them was the person he needed. The only good thing about the situation was that there would be no mess left by unreported deaths. One of the most important requirements to be part of the project was to be an orphan or have no personal relationship: no family, no friends, no pets, nothing. Besides, it was Irina who was in charge of dispatching the bodies for him. If one of them was to have someone looking for them, she would solve it._

* * *

"Promise me you'll behave yourself."

Syaoran was finishing putting on his doctor's gown while Kenji played with his stethoscope. His son was unusually quiet that morning, when he normally screamed and jumped out of excitement, demanding to go with him to his rounds and even visit the cute (how he called them) nurses on the fourth floor.

"Yes, daddy." He promised, looking into his eyes. Shaoran was always surprised to see such dark amber orbs that looked so much like his.

"Is something wrong?" He sat beside the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?

"Y-yes." his voice wavered.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. Kenji was lying to him. Something had to be very wrong if he didn't dare to tell him.

"Do you want something?" Kenji suddenly went stiff. Apparently he was right. "Well, tell me what it is."

Kenji took his time to answer.

"Can I go see the girl with green eyes?"

Syaoran knew exactly who he was talking about and he wasn't happy about it. After what Chiharu had said the previous day, the curiosity that initially he had felt for Sakura became fear. If it was true that she had completely regenerated in four days, he couldn't imagine what other _wonderful_ things she could do. He sighed. What was he supposed to do? He looked at his son and the longing that shined in his eyes made him decide.

"Come on, then."

Kenji gave a cry of joy and ran out of the office. Syaoran caught up with him in the elevators. They climbed to the second floor and then straight to Sakura's room. Halfway there they passed a pretty woman with short hair and a cane. She was obviously blind. Yet she smiled as if she had seen them and kept on walking. They reached their destination and Shaoran barged in unannounced.

Sakura was sitting on the bed, dressed in striking bright pink pants and a tight hot pink shirt. The usual sketchbook was resting on her legs as she scribbled, oblivious to the interruption. And as Chiharu had warned, her face was perfect. He stared at her for a moment, caught in the overwhelming beauty that the bruises and swelling had distorted. His heart skipped a bit. He'd never imagined that she was so beautiful.

"Syaoran?"

Sakura had stopped drawing to look at her attractive doctor. Despite how much she tried to deny it, Syaoran's presence put her at ease. Unable to feel nervous or afraid that her existence had vanished along with her memories, she felt a growing anxiety about her future. She was completely healed and that meant that she would soon be discharged. But every time she saw him, all those feelings dissipated completely.

"How are you?" He asked nervously. Kenji had jumped into the bed and Sakura gave him her notebook so he could entertain himself for a while.

"Fine." She replied simply and moved aside so Syaoran could sit beside her. "You never came yesterday."

"I went home. I was tired and wanted to sleep."

"Do you spend all your time in the hospital?"

Syaoran nodded.

"Most of the time, that's why Meiling is always with Kenji. Moreover, I need a babysitter."

"It's so hard to get one?"

"More than you think." He ran a hand through his hair. "Sakura, I want to ask you something."

The girl straightened her back.

"Do you have any idea why your body regenerates so fast?"

"That's what I wonder." She seemed really sincere. "Every time I think about it an image pops into my mind. I can show you." She then turned to Kenji and smiled at him so sweetly that Syaoran blushed. "I need that for a second, I'll give it right back."

Sakura quickly turned the pages until she found what she was looking for. She showed Syaoran the outline of some kind of room with several beds and a serum by the door.

"I have no idea what is that, but it feels very real." She moved a few pages forward. The next drawing was a busy avenue. "And then I see this. Where is it?"

Syaoran looked at the picture a few moments.

"Manhattan. Sakura, you lived in the United States?"

"I don't know." He could hear the frustration in her voice. "I want to understand what happened to me but it's impossible. You say I was found in a car accident, but I wasn't in any of those cars. I know Tomoeda is in Japan, but I don't remember anything about this place. I tried to speak in other languages, and so far I'm fluent in five. Syaoran, I'm going crazy."

Anxiety threatened to burst her lungs. She began to hyperventilate and her eyes filled with tears. She needed air, she had to breathe. Syaoran jumped, his reflexes taking control of his body, but his son beat him to it. Quickly he knelt in front of Sakura and blew on her face as his little hands stroked her chestnut hair. Petrified, Syaoran couldn't avert his eyes from the scene. He still couldn't understand why his son had developed such an interest for a girl he barely knew and mostly did not understand how a five year old child could control a panic attack.

"Are you okay, Sakura-neesan?" Kenji asked with a smile.

Sakura nodded and hugged him tightly. From the moment she laid her eyes on that child, she had felt a great affection for him, and she even caught herself drawing his face on the corners of her sketchbook. He planted a kiss on her forehead and sit beside her again. The three of them fell silent, stealing glances of each other every once in a while. Syaoran was about to open his mouth, but the bedroom door flew open and Eriol came tripping into the room. His face was pale and sweaty.

"Syaoran, come quick, we have a very serious problem." He grabbed his friend's arm and began to drag him towards the hallway. "Sakura-san, you can do me the favor of taking care of Kenji for a while?"

The girl nodded.

Eriol thanked her and left the room with Syaoran. Once in the hallway Eriol broke into a run. The chestnut had no idea what was going on, but when he neared the stairs that led into the reception, he heard the wailing of a bunch of police sirens.

* * *

Haruyama Inoue, captain of Tomoeda's police department, hoped to have a quiet Sunday morning. She had enough with having to work that day, to add something else to her growing list of problems. Sitting comfortably in an armchair in her office, beer bottle in hand, she hummed a melody while checking her makeup in a handheld mirror. The woman with black hair and brown eyes looking back at her looked about thirty, with those full lips, high cheekbones, smooth, unblemished skin, when in fact she was forty-six. No one in the department could believe it, much less with the suggestive curvy hot body she always wore stuffed into leather pants and flannel shirts. She had gotten into a lot of trouble, all thanks to her appearance, but she made up for everything with her explosive personality and sly smile.

She took a swig from her bottle and more out of habit than necessity, drew her nine-millimeter with gold filigree and loaded a bullet into the barrel. It had been a long time since she had to use it and sincerely appreciated that. She put the gun into its holster and jumped up. It was time to take a stroll through the narrow corridors of her beloved kingdom. She pulled her long hair into a ponytail and left the office with rapid pace. The station was nearly empty, only a few policemen in their blue uniforms went from side to side. Seeing her, the officers stopped to say hello. She replied with a pleasant smile without stopping. Everything was in order, perhaps, after all, she could have her quiet Sunday.

"But look who's here." A hoarse voice spoke behind her.

Inoue quickly turned to face the visitor. An American guy that looked like a biker, with graying hair and blue eyes was smiling, charming, from the front door. He had a package wrapped in bright red paper in one hand and his car keys in the other. Inoue couldn't help blushing. Almost a year ago they had met in a bar and immediately had jumped to a relationship full of sporadic encounters, sex, alcohol and casual discussions. Their respective rhythms of life left no room for a partner, but they appreciated what they had.

"What are you doing here?" She asked seductively. "Did you miss me or have you come to ruin my day?"

"When it comes to ruin something, it would be those clothes that you have on while we have fun in your office. He said in the same tone. "But surely you don't want to, so let's leave it at that. I brought you a gift, by the way. Yesterday was your birthday." He reminded her.

"You're getting soft, John." She received the package with trembling hands. "But thank you very much. What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

Inoue shrugged and put the box in her jacket.

"You want a beer? I have your favorite brand in the fridge."

"I can't stay, Princess, I have work to do." He went in and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Tonight I'm free, however, if you're interested."

Inoue smirked and nodded.

"We'll see, champ."

John nodded and left the station. Inoue stood in the lobby a few minutes, watching the street out the front door. The sound of running footsteps broke into her thoughts. One of her officers came running, with a radio glued to her ear.

"Haruyama-san! Haruyama-san!" She stopped in front of her and took a moment to catch her breath. "We just got a call from the General Hospital reporting a murder. Someone found a nurse with a headshot. I already sent in a forensic ambulance and patrol cars."

"How long it's been since the call came in?"

"Two minutes."

Inoue returned to her office for her car keys and left just as quickly. In the parking lot of the station awaited her sports black car with the lights on the ceiling and the emblem of the department painted on the doors. She got in and pulled away. Dodging traffic at amazing speed she arrived at the hospital at the same time as the forensic ambulance. She left the siren on and entered the reception. Three other officers were already there questioning the staff. She scanned the crowd and spotted a couple of doctors who came running to the room. Recognizing two authority figures, Inoue approached them.

"My name is Inoue Haruyama, captain of the police." She quickly introduced herself. "And you are?

"Li Syaoran and I am Hiraguiizawa Eriol. Syaoran is the chief of the emergency unit."

"Perfect, so can you tell me what it's going on?"

Syaoran raised his hands in surrender.

"I was in the middle of a consult with a patient, I have no idea. Eriol?"

"I was going to the supply closet in the ICU when I saw him through the glass. I automatically called the police." He explained simply. "He was shot with a .38 mm, I recognized the bullet casing. I practice every weekend in the firing range." He added.

"I knew I had seen you before. Li-san, control your staff and gather them all in the ICU for questioning. Hiraguiizawa-san, take one of my officers to retrieve the body. Once that's done you will show me the surveillance footage."

Syaoran and Eriol nodded and they were about to leave when it happened. A tremor shook the hospital and then the second floor exploded to bits.

* * *

A block away, the rider looked satisfied as the east wing of the hospital exploded in a cloud of smoke and debris that fell on the street. Pedestrians and drivers stopped to watch in horror. If her calculations were correct, at least twenty people, including Sakura, should be dead. She didn't care about the rest. Before riding her bike, she disposed of her glasses, her cane and her wig, revealing a thick blond hair that flapped in the wind. She put on her helmet, started the engine, and left. Her work there was done.

* * *

Sakura felt the blast before it happened. In an instant she pounced on Kenji like an animal and turned the bed to use it as a shield. A second later the wall exploded, releasing a shower of debris. A dense cloud of smoke and dust prevented her from seeing her surroundings. She could feel the heat of flames nearby, something was burning in there. Fueled by adrenaline, she made sure the child was okay. He was crying and covered in dust, but aside from that he seemed fine. She whispered that everything would be alright and that while he was with her nothing bad would ever happen. When Kenji was somewhat reassured, Sakura got up and peered over the edge of the bed. Her room was history. Two of the walls were shattered and the third one was gone, leaving a big hole from where she could see the street full of police cars and people. The window curtains were burning on the ground, a few feet away from her. They had to get out of there fast. She _knew_ that the floor would not take much.

Amid all the dust and broken cement, she found an opening large enough to crawl around. She quickly ducked back the bed and helped Kenji to stand up. He was still clutching the sketchbook.

"Kenji, I need you to listen to me carefully." The child nodded. "We can't stay here, so follow me, okay? Can you crawl?

"Yes." he said, his voice cracking.

"Over there is a hole we will crawl through, alright? I know you can, don't be afraid."

Kenji smiled bravely. Sakura patted his head before getting up and push the stretcher with all the force she could muster. Once that was done, she grabbed his hand and started walking. With each step they moved forward they could hear the crunching of cement under their feet. Sakura was barefoot and bits of cement and twisted metal bit into her flesh, but her main concern at that time was to keep Kenji safe. They had reached the opening. Sakura looked closely and decided it was safe enough.

"You know what you have to do. When you're on the other side, get up slowly and don't move until I come out."

Kenji hid the sketchbook under his shirt and knelt on the floor. He slowly slipped through the hole and then shouted to Sakura to come out. After a blow to the head and a cut on her cheek, she was safely on the other side.

The main hallway of the ICU looked like a battlefield. The walls had collapsed; the roof was cracked and the halogen lights now hung from the power lines. An acrid smell that Sakura identified as burning flesh hung in the air. Sakura took a step forward and the floor creaked. Here they would have to deal with that risk as well. At least nothing was blocking their path.

"Come on."

Sakura grabbed Kenji's hand again and slowly began to move. In the distance she could hear the wail of sirens, screams and even cries. Apparently there were many wounded. Sakura clenched Kenji's hand. They had to get out. After several minutes of struggle, they reached the last stretch of the corridor. A huge chunk of the wall and a lot of debris were blocking the way. There was a hole between the debris and the wall big enough for a child to pass through.

"Kenji, do me a favor." She knelt before him and grabbed his shoulders. "I can't go out there, but you do. I want you to get to the other side and ask for help."

"What if everything out there looks like everything here?"

"It won't, I promise. I know you can do it." She repeated. "Get out and call for help. We're not far away from the stairs. If they're damaged don't go down, shout and someone will come for you."

"Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded.

"I would never lie to you, everything will be fine." She said "I'd been asked to take care of you and I will. Now go."

Kenji nodded and before he slipped through the hole, he gave her a brief hug. Sakura's chest tightened. She was afraid, not for her or what might happen, but for Kenji. Her _mission,_ her job was to protect him. She knew she was doing well to take him away from danger, but he was just a kid and she really wasn't sure that everything was in place at the other side.

"Sakura-neesan, wait here!" Kenji shouted from the other side.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll come back." He promised.

Sakura heard the echo of his footsteps walking down the aisle.

* * *

"Can't you send someone to look for him?" Eriol asked Inoue.

They were outside the hospital, surrounded by patrols. While Eriol controlled the patients transfer to other hospitals Inoue had his team close the area and control the traffic to accommodate cars, ambulances, fire trucks and volunteers who had offered to transport patients. Half an hour had passed since the explosion and they were still counting the casualties. Between patients and staff, more than fifty were killed. At this rate they would collapse the morgue. But who Eriol was really worried about was Syaoran. They had him sedated, handcuffed and locked inside Inoue's car. After the confusion calmed down a bit it was easy to identify the point of origin of the explosion. The last room in the ICU. Sakura's room. Syaoran had lost his self-control; he tried to run up the stairs through the clouds of smoke, risking his own life. The only thing that his friend understood at the time was that his son was in danger and that he had to save him. Inoue tackled him at the moment she realized his intentions and ordered Eriol to sedate him. If Kenji had survived, it wouldn't be to become an orphan.

"First I have to get everyone out of here and make sure the hospital stays as it is" Inoue ran a hand over her face. She had a deep cut on her cheek. That was going to leave a wicked scar. "And if I'm honest with you, I don't think he's alive."

Eriol was painfully aware of that, but tried to hold on to a sparkle of hope. The sanity of his best friend depended on that.

"The transfer will be completed soon. Please, when you can, look for him. He might still be alive."

Inoue let out a heavy sigh.

"I'll need a photograph and his complete..." she lowered the tone of her voice as her eyes widened like saucers. "Eriol, tell me what the fuck is that."

A small silhouette appeared amid the smoke and the faint echo of a child's voice could be heard above the chaos.

"Help!"

Eriol had come to Kenji's rescue before realizing that he moved. He caught the child in his arms, and took him away from the entrance and directly to Inoue's car, where Syaoran, handcuffed and sobbing, quickly regained consciousness. Seeing his son unharmed made his face lit up and with handcuffs and all he took his son from Eriol and choked him on a hug while thanking the heavens. Kenji cried out of fear and happiness. Sakura had kept her promise. He found help. Then he remembered.

"Sakura-neesan!" he tried to jump to the floor and began to squirm in his father's arms with the intention of returning into the hospital. "Dad! Sakura-neesan needs help! Come on, hurry!"

Syaoran had no idea of what was going on, but now that the sedative had left his system, he felt his mind working at its normal pace. Inoue, who had approached them slowly, removed Syaoran's handcuffs.

"Come on, champ, tell me what's wrong." Inoue asked the kid.

The boy jumped to explain how Sakura had saved him from the explosion by hiding behind the bed and how she had hurt her feet and face and how he had crawled through a hole in the wall, then ran down the stairs and out to find help.

"Sakura-neesan is trapped up there" he said pointing to the broken windows of the second floor. "You have to save her, Daddy; you promised you would take care of her!"

"Kenji," Syaoran said patiently. "It's not safe to enter the building, it may fall and more than one person could get hurt."

"No!"

Hysterical, the child squirmed until Syaoran had no choice but to let go. He was crying out of fury now. He wasn't scared anymore.

"Sakura-neesan going to die and it will be your fault!" He shouted, his voice cracking. "You promised to care of her! You have to save her! I don't want her to leave me!"

And in confirmation of his words, the building issued a horrible crunch. In an instant chaos reigned again. Officers, doctors and bystanders ran to get away from there. Syaoran's heart stopped for a second. Sakura was still alive, she had saved his son and he was going to let her die.

"Eriol, take care of Kenji." Syaoran said as he removed his dusty coat. "I'll go for Sakura."

"Are you crazy!? The building is going to fall; you can't go in there."

Syaoran hardened gaze but said nothing. If she died, he would spend the rest of his life repenting for not saving her. But he had no time for anything. The entire hospital creaked again and the next second the whole place came down.


	3. Shot 3

**Hello there, people! Today I'm way too happy (maybe because I downed 5 bottles of Coca-Cola in less than an hour) but just because of my mood, Imma post today. I want to thank you all for taking your time to read this little story. Really, thank you a lot. So, I have to go. Enjoy and leave a review! **

* * *

**The original characters and story line belongs to CLAMP. **

* * *

**BIORTIE**

**-3 -**

_It was like a nightmare, a repetitive and cruel nightmare._

_The same ten ignorant patients, the same ten doses of serum, the same moans, the same deaths at the same point. He had already tried the serum in sixty subjects and none of them had survived, despite meeting all requirements. Was it so difficult to find a man or a woman with enough strength to stand a drug capable of modifying DNA? He didn't ask much._ _Not at all._ _But he wasn't getting any results. At this rate the president was going to cancel the project and most likely, order the shutdown of his lab as well. And he wasn't going to let that happen. Several years of his life had been devoted to the creation of the drug with the purpose of improving the soldiers who protected his nation. He had come very far and he didn't plan to step back. _

"_Jonathan, the next group is ready." Announced one of his colleagues. "The girls will connect the serum now."_

_The aforementioned sighed and followed his companion to the testing room. The ten subjects were already on the stretchers with a catheter stuck in their arms. He really didn't want to see because he knew what would happen. Yet he stayed, struggling to look hopeful. Internally he prayed to all the gods he knew for a miracle. He needed it to work, he wanted it to work._

"_Begin."_

_The black liquid began to drip from the plastic bags, coursing at full speed through their bloodstream. The black liquid, that Jonathan had nicknamed 'Base', had the specific task to coat the vein walls in minutes and prepare the body for the drug. Called Biorite, the phosphorescent green liquid that had the wonderful ability to modify specific genes in the DNA chain and suppress one of the primary reactions of human beings: fear. Deprived of this, the soldier would abide by orders of all kinds without thinking of the consequences. Having achieved that, he would inject a second dose slightly modified to directly attack the brain and alter the synapses of certain neurons, making it virtually impossible to refuse a direct order. And finally, the last dose attacked al nerves in the body making the soldier immune to pain. _

"_Change the bags."_ _ordered Jonathan._

_The nurses replaced the bags by the new serum and immediately injected it. Again, he saw them die one by one, falling like pieces on a chessboard. When the sixth died he decided he had seen enough. He turned and left the room. He was going to his office when a nurse approached him._

"_It worked." She said breathlessly._

_Jonathan left her there and returned to the testing room. A group of nurses did what they could to stabilize the subject, whose body shone like a neon sign. The Biorite was already settling into the bloodstream and merging with the body. His heart was pounding. He had done it. He was one step closer to his dream._

"_Stabilize her and take her to another room, prepare the gym and so on, tomorrow we start with the training." He left the room, pulled out his phone and called Irina. "I got it. Right now I'm transferring her to a room. Tomorrow we start the tests. It worked, Irina, it worked."_

* * *

It was two in the afternoon when the cranes, trucks and labor arrived at the hospital. Men in gloves armed with hydraulic presses immediately set about the task of removing the debris with as much as care as possible. They had been notified of the possibility of finding bodies there but had reason to believe that a woman had survived. According to her description she was wearing a pink heater and a hot pink shirt; she had white skin and chestnut hair. Her name was Sakura. While the men worked, supported by police and firefighters, the news channels broadcasted live the aftermath of the explosion. It was considered from a gas leak to a criminal attack and Inoue was sure it was the latter.

After the building came down, she ordered every civilian to be removed from the scene and every street in a five mile radius to be blocked by policemen: no one went in or out without her authorization and she delegated a few officers to traffic control; some others to deal with journalists and the rest to put on gloves, grab a shovel and start digging. Catastrophes were her specialty. She had proved that already with the crash on the freeway. She never lost her head under any circumstances. Losing your mind meant losing control within the chaos.

Once she finished all that, she became face to face with reality. A madman had blown a hospital, risking hundreds of lives and ending many others. Her job now was to find out why. Even if she had to personally interview all of the citizens in Tomoeda, she was going to find that sucker.

"Li-san, I need a favor." Inoue came to a halt next to Syaoran, who wore very thick gloves and was helping move large chunks of concrete. "Do you have backups of the recordings of your surveillance system?"

Syaoran wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt and stopped what he was doing to look at Inoue. Since the building collapsed he kept his mouth shut. He couldn't talk. He felt guilty. Although he had only a physician-patient relationship with Sakura, he owed her Kenji's live. Somehow she had protected him from the blast and took him out the hospital completely unharmed. And then he remembered his son's words: "You promised to take care of her" That was true, he promised to take care of her... because that was his job. God. In less than one day a stranger had upset him beyond words and now he was fighting against his tormented mind.

"The hospital director has a remote recording system at home." he said. "I've called him already; his plane arrives tonight from New York. You'll have the tapes tomorrow."

Inoue nodded.

"Did you see something strange on the way to the ICU when you went to visit your patient?" she asked. If she was questioning the whole city, she could start with the head of emergencies.

"Nothing. I ran into a visitor in the hall. That's it."

"And how he looked?"

Syaoran took his time to remember.

"She was a tall woman with black hair, wearing leather clothes and she was blind."

"There is a log of visitors for each patient, right? Do you store that data elsewhere?"

"In the director's computer. All the information is copied into the system memory directly.

"Any reason to take such precautions?"

"A few years ago the system crashed and we lost a lot of unsupported information, so to avoid future problems the director gave the order to enter the information twice in the system."

"Very well. What's the name of the director?"

"Clow Reed."

Inoue typed the name into her phone and then put in in her jacket pocket.

"Where is your son?"

"His aunt came to pick him up a few hours ago. She saw it all on the news. She was pretty ... upset."

"I guess."

The conversation died there. One officer approached to notify Inoue that they found several bodies but none of them responded to the description of the person they were looking for.

"Do you really think she's alive?"

"I hope so."

The next few hours were a blur. Rubble, corpses, more debris, more bodies. They cleaned the main parking lot and half the street. By then it was eight o'clock, and a half moon shone in the sky and there was still no sign of Sakura. It was almost as if the earth had swallowed her.

"Haruyama-san." the head of the workers approached her. He was covered in dust and sweat. "We have removed everything that could be removed by hand, but it's time to bring the bulldozers. We will try to be careful, but I can't give you any guarantees."

"I understand. Tell the officer that we have heavy machinery coming over here."

The guy nodded and left.

Twenty minutes later the bulldozers made their way through the mess, collecting everything that crossed their path and then depositing it in a giant truck. At that point there was nothing to do. Syaoran sat in a patrol car and began tinkering with his phone. Eriol had sent a message from a clinic in the north indicating they had already installed all the patients. Meiling also had sent him a text, probably forced by Kenji, asking if Sakura was fine. He had a missed call from his mother and a few others of many colleagues who had not been in the hospital that morning.

He sent a reply to her cousin and Eriol and then slipped the phone into his jeans. He was exhausted, but couldn't rest, not with so many things turning over in his head. Where the hell was he going to work now? How long would take to rebuild the hospital, who had been his second home for over four years? Who had committed such a heinous act? Why? And the most important of worries: Was Sakura alive?

"We found someone!"

An hour had passed since the bulldozers arrived. A halogen reflector illuminated the place and a group of men were gathered around a kind of cave in. Inoue and Syaoran immediately joined them.

"Sakura!"

There she was, unconscious and badly injured, but alive. The sight was like a shot of adrenaline to Syaoran. Soon he was shouting orders and calling a few paramedics who had stayed to help. They brought a stretcher and a few pulleys. The cave in was about two meters deep and two meters wide, but it was big enough to accommodate four people and a stretcher. Syaoran went first to review Sakura and then told the paramedics to pull down the stretcher. With extreme care they put Sakura on the stretcher and secured her body with velcro straps and a collar for her neck. Syaoran climbed back out. Once up he called Eriol. His friend replied immediately.

"Do we have a free room in the clinic? I found Sakura and I'm taking her there." He received the reply. "Perfect, I'll go with her in the ambulance. Eriol, you wait for me. No more nurses and doctors."

_"And why is that?"_

"I'll explain later."

He hung up and turned to Inoue.

"Haruyama-san, I'm going to the hospital. Notify me when you find the basement parking lot."

"That may take another couple of hours, maybe a day, but I'll keep you posted."

Syaoran thanked her and rode in the ambulance with Sakura. As soon as they closed the rear doors the vehicle sped forward with the sirens blaring.

"Connect her to an IV, I don't want her to dehydrate, she has spent hours under all that rubble; I need a pair of scissors." He barked at the paramedics. "Prepare the disinfectant and the temporary stitches for deep cuts."

Using the scissors, Syaoran cut open Sakura's torn and bloody shirt. She had several bumps and cuts on her chest and torso. Her legs were the same story. That woman never failed to surprise him. A whole building had fallen on her and she had the nerve to survive. When the catheter needle pierced her arm she moaned a little.

"Li-san, look at this." Said one of the paramedics.

Sakura's left ankle was sticking out at an odd angle and the skin around it began to swell and fill with black spots.

"Give me something to immobilize her leg."

"I'll see what I can find."

Ten minutes later the ambulance braked in front of the emergency entrance of a small clinic in the north of the city. Eriol was already waiting outside with a stretcher.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" He asked as the paramedics laid Sakura in the stretcher.

"Later. Now I want a full-body x-ray and a scan. I have to make sure she has no other broken bones."

Eriol raised an eyebrow.

"A building collapsed on her, she's lucky to be alive."

Syaoran sighed and pushed his friend inside the hospital.

* * *

"You're crazy."

Sitting in the cafeteria of the clinic, Syaoran and Eriol rested for the first time all day. After stabilizing Sakura and patch up her wounds, Shaoran was ready to talk. He told his friend all he knew. Sakura's body had the ability to regenerate in a matter of days to the point of no scarring or permanent changes. Eriol had listened in silence, unable to believe such a thing was possible. No human being could recover from a rib fracture in four days. That was pure nonsense.

"It's true." He said in his defense. "Chiharu called yesterday to tell me. The results of all tests were perfect, no allergies, no pains, nothing. All her fractures were healed, she has no scars. I don't how or why."

"If all this is true, tomorrow that girl won't have a single wound on her body."

"Most likely not. The cuts will leave in hours; the broken ankle will heal in a few days."

"Honestly, I can't believe it."

"You'll see."

At that moment a nurse approached them to tell them that their ankle fracture patient was awake and wanted to see them. Syaoran thanked her with a tired smile and stood up.

"Come on, I want to introduce you formally."

Eriol had no choice but to follow his partner to one of the rooms on that floor. Sakura was gazing through the window. Seeing her, Syaoran noticed that the regeneration process had accelerated a bit, because she no longer showed bruises or cuts of any kind. Eriol seemed to notice that too, because he stared at her in amazement.

"Sakura, how are you feeling?" Syaoran sat beside her on the bed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Anything hurts?"

"Nothing" she said. "The nurses said a building collapsed on top of me. Is that true?"

"Uhm, yes, it's true."

"And yet I'm still alive… I must be one hell of a lucky girl."

Syaoran nodded.

"Sakura, I want to thank you for saving my son, I owe you too much and I don't know how to thank you."

"You have nothing to be thankful for, I did what I had to do. They asked me to look after him and I did just that."

"But you risked your life without thinking."

"Syaoran, I would anything for you and your son."

Syaoran blushed furiously and closed his eyes, unable to look at her. Silence reigned for a moment, until Eriol decided to save the situation.

"Sakura-san, my name is Hiraguiizawa Eriol, I work with Syaoran."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled. "You two know each other for long?"

"We've been best friends since I can remember." He answered. Syaoran still was unable to talk. "What you did today was very brave."

"Thank you, but I was asked to look after him and I did." She repeated. "It's not a big deal."

Eriol was going to add something else but Syaoran's phone started to ring. Slowly, he pulled the device from his pocket and picked up.

_"Li-san, I have good news and bad news. Good, we find the parking entrance, the bad, it's blocked. You won't get your car back for a few days."_

"No problem. Do you know if there are people down there?"

_"We think not, but you can never be sure. I'll call you if anything happens. How's Sakura?" _

"Awake." He said, aware of how stupid that sounded. "Well, I mean," he corrected "She's fine."

"_She has to be, she survived quite the accident. Well, I must go. Good night, Li-san." _

"Good night, Haruyama-san."

As soon as the call was over, another took its place. Meiling's name flashed on the screen.

_"I know it's not the best time to touch the subject, but we need a nanny urgently. Starting tomorrow I have to work double shifts and there is no one to take care of Kenji. I already talked to your mother; she will look after him until you find someone to do it."_

"Working on it." He lied. Anything was better to put up with his cousin in psychopath mode.

_"Well, I was calling to demand that you come home, your son wants to see you and I have a bed waiting for me on the other side of town. See you later." _

He hung up and suddenly felt exhausted. It had been an eternal day and he really needed to rest. Tomorrow he was going to fix his problems. He put the phone away and stood up.

"I have to go." He said to Sakura, forcing a smile. What she said made him extremely nervous. "See you tomorrow, Sakura. Eriol, let's go."

"See you tomorrow." She waved with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Eriol."

"You too. Get well."

And after that, both doctors left the room.

* * *

_"Is that her?"_

_Irina's pale face was pressed against the window of the observation room. A woman who looked about twenty-five was trotting at full speed on a treadmill with a multitude of electrodes attached to her body. Her skin radiated a faint green glow, like the flares, but nothing else left evidence that her DNA had been modified. Her chest swelled with pride, it had worked. That woman would be the example of every soldier. Someone fearless, someone able to obey an order without a doubt._ _She couldn't believe it. Jonathan had delivered. _

"_Is the only one?"_

"_Another one survived the last group, the two strongest of the bunch."_

"_Where is she?"_

"_Still in the lab."_ _Jonathan frowned. "She's having a hard time adjusting, but she'll get over it. I hope that tomorrow I can have them both together in training."_

_Irina nodded and walked away from the window. Jonathan sat on a rickety chair by the door._

"_What do you want to test with this?" _

"_Their_ _physical strength, I don't know how much the drug changed their bodies and symptoms manifest within forty-eight hours of the injection."_

"_What about the genetic code? Can you get a pattern to mutate the drug and make it customizable?"_

"_Still working on that. Fortunately both girls are completely different at the genetic level. When the other recovers completely I'll do more tests."_

_Irina gave a heavy sigh and reluctantly, stood._

"_The progress of these girls must be reported to me immediately, anything out of the ordinary, even a cold, you have to keep me posted." She said wearily. "The president and his secretary will visit the lab by the end of the week. They insisted on seeing your creation personally."_

"_Perfect."_

"_And Jonathan, they have to be killing machines by Friday."_

* * *

Syaoran's dreams that night were filled with corpses, smoke, rubble and a dying woman with green eyes. More tired than when he went to sleep, Syaoran got up from the bed only to find out that it was four in the morning. He'd barely slept five hours. He ran a hand over his face and ducked back under the covers, but after twenty minutes contemplating the ceiling it became obvious that he wasn't going to sleep again. Resigned, he left his room towards the kitchen. The lights were still on and the bottle of wine he had opened upon arrival was still on the counter. Without thinking twice he took a long drink while looking for something to eat on the shelves.

It was the first time in years that he woke up in the middle of the night even though he almost never slept. When he had begun with his practice in the hospital and had come face to face with what it truly meant to be a doctor, he spent sleepless nights too shocked to sleep. Eriol had to prescribe him sleeping pills to rest a bit and thanks to that he had become accustomed to his surroundings and everything in his life finally took place. At least until she left him and a year later appeared back at his door with a newborn in her arms. And again, the nightmares came back. He would read all night long just to stop himself from thinking about his future.

Around two years ago he'd managed to put the pieces of life together and feel fulfilled both in the profession he had dreamed as a child and raising a son with all the love and devotion he could give. But then, why he felt that way, so stressed, so dull, like he was living out of his body? Why such concern for a stranger and why that fear of losing her? He sighed. He needed a vacation a.s.a.p.

Bottle in hand he got out of the kitchen and back to his room. On the way he decided to take a look at his son. Kenji slept soundly amid cushions while still holding Sakura's sketchbook in his hands. Smiling he took the notebook and left. Once tucked under the covers of his bed, Syaoran decided to take a look at that damn book and thus understand why his son was so fascinated with it. He took another swig from the bottle and opened the book at the beginning.

There was the first drawing that Sakura had shown him, the Empire State. He turned the page and found the sketch of Tokyo, then the Statue of Liberty, the Tomoeda Penguin Park, the room with the beds and the serum, pictures of him and his son and more scenes of big cities wrapped in rain and fog. If it was true that Sakura was American, she must've traveled a lot. Why? All the things that had to do with her were one mystery after another. He was not a fan of mysteries, but he knew that this was one of those special cases. He ate up the drawings, marveled at the fidelity with which Sakura plastered images on paper. One of his favorites was a picture of a deserted lagoon, shining in the moonlight. That image radiated a strange peace and it was more like a sketch born out of her imagination than from her chaotic memory. Feeling somewhat guilty, he tore the sheet, folded it and put it in one of his drawers. By then it was already six o'clock and he was more awake than he had been in a long time. Deciding to start his day early, he got out of bed. Besides he had to wake up his son in half an hour to help him get ready for school.

At half past six he was already bathed and dressed, with breakfast on the table. Kenji, sleepy and dragging his superhero cape appeared in the room, making him yell like a little girl. How the hell was awake? He found the answer in his son's arms. It was a classic alarm clock that he didn't remember buying. Apparently Meiling had been teaching his son to be self-sufficient.

"Kenji, what are you supposed to tell people when you wake up?"

"Good morning." He said dully. "I don't want to go to school, daddy."

Syaoran smirked.

"You have to go, no excuses." He said gently. "And if you behave, I take you out to eat whatever you want."

That seemed to cheer him up because he began to swallow his breakfast and in less than ten minutes had run back to his room to put on his uniform. Syaoran followed him to make sure he didn't make a mess, but Kenji had no problems to fix his shirt and pants. His son was quite intelligent. A few minutes later they arrived to the parking lot. Because Syaoran's sports car was still trapped in the hospital, he would be forced to use the elegant sedan that his parents had given him as a graduation gift from college. He hated that car, not because he had a problem with the car itself, but for the simple fact that it was a gift. Kenji climbed in the back, sprawling in the leather seat. Syaoran took his place behind the wheel and left.

After dropping off his son at school, Syaoran went to Eriol's house. He texted Syaoran, saying that he needed help with a very, very important matter and that he couldn't wait any longer. That struck Syaoran as weird. Eriol never lost control and he never did things without thinking them through. When he reached his friend's house, he was already waiting at the door. Without any explanation, he got into the passenger seat and asked Syaoran to continue driving.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to keep guessing?"

"I have to buy something important and I want you to come with me."

"What is that special thing that can't wait for the clock to chime eight?"

"An engagement ring."

Syaoran was momentarily out of action, processing the words he had just heard.

"Are you finally going to propose to Tomoyo?"

Daidouji Tomoyo was by far his best friend and Eriol's dream woman. They had been high school sweethearts and their relationship was growing stronger with the passing years. It even survived two years of exchange in another country. They were made for each other and after more than a decade of relationship, it was finally becoming official.

"That great, man." Syaoran patted Eriol in the back. "When will you ask her?"

"Tonight, the rest of the week she's jammed with patients and don't want to wait any longer." He said, his voice trembling. "I called Yamazaki and he's waiting for us with the store open."

Syaoran changed lanes at the last minute and headed downtown.

"What made you decide to take the big step?"

Eriol sighed.

"Something she told me a few weeks ago. You know that rumor, about Terada proposing to Rika and everything. Tomoyo was really happy for her and then drops this on me: '_They've been going out for two years and are already getting married. She's so lucky'_ He mimicked Tomoyo's high-pitched voice. "Maybe it was a psychological trick, but it worked."

"Everything's going to be fine. Stop being a baby, for crying out loud."

After fifteen minutes of driving, Syaoran parked in front of an elegant building with black marble walls. At the base of the building was the most famous jewelry shop of all Tomoeda. The owner was waiting by the door, slightly sleepy, with a can of Red Bull in hand. He welcomed them with a warm smile and led them inside. Anticipating the needs of his customer, Yamazaki had arranged several rings in the display table. The light of a desk lamp shined upon the rings, making them sparkle.

"I chose among the most elegant and simple" Said Yamazaki, stifling a yawn. "Knowing Tomoyo, something in between will do the job. A silver ring with a single diamond on top, nothing too elaborate, but elegant nonetheless."

"And here I thought that you were just the owner." Syaoran teased.

"You know mi wife." Yamazaki downed the last of his Red Bull and tossed the can into the trash bin. "Take your time, guys. Do you want anything?"

Syaoran and Eriol denied. Yamazaki shrugged and disappeared behind a metal door. The other two hunched like vultures over the rings. Syaoran was really bothered with the situation, because it reminded him of that awful day, six years ago, when he was the one that needed help to pick out an engagement ring. Even so he stood his ground and gave his opinion from time to time. Finally, after two hours of watching over a hundred rings, Eriol found the one he wanted: a silver ring with a six-carat diamond embedded in a complex case. Yamazaki took the ring and with skilled hands he polished it and put it in a white leather box.

"I'll send you the bill later, ok? Good luck, Eriol, and call me for the bachelor party."

"Forget about that, tonight I'm getting drunk. Thank you, Yamazaki."

"It's nothing." He walked them to the main door. "Syaoran, I almost forgot. You still have that collector item I sold you a few years ago?"

Syaoran stopped dead in his tracks and shot Yamazaki an empty look.

"Yes, I still have it. Why?"

"I'm interested in getting it back. A costumer of mine is offering to pay a big sum of money for it, so think it over, and if you want to sell it, we'll split the cash."

"I'll think about it."

Syaoran waved his goodbyes and climbed inside the car. Eriol followed him suit.

"What was Yamazaki talking about? What collector item?"

"That's none of your business."

He started the engine and left.

* * *

See ya!


End file.
